Harry Potter and the House Elves
by LadyBrannon
Summary: Harry is woken from a bad dream...AGAIN! This time he decides to confront the problem! Cute surprise at the end! (HGRW and HPGiW)


Harry Potter and the House Elves 

By LadyBrannon

_This was written for a competition at www.godrics-hollow.net. I'll let you know if I win anything with it. Until then, please enjoy the story. _

_I do not, in anyway, have anything to do with the HP Dynasty. _

Harry Potter gasped as he was rudely awakened from his once peaceful slumber. He took several strangled breaths in rapid succession, but still felt as if he were drowning. He inhaled one last, all-cleansing breath, and opened his eyes. Harry did a quick sweeping glance of his surroundings, and was relieved to see that he was safely enveloped in his bed in the boys' dormitory in Gryffindor tower. Harry briefly closed his eyes and, while his eyes were closed, took those few brief seconds to slow his erratic heart rate with a couple more deep cleansing breaths.  

This was the fourth time this week that Harry had woken this way. He could remember nothing of the dream except that it was unbelievably horrifying. Or, rather, it was horrifying to the participants of the dream. He sat up and haphazardly tossed his burgundy covers back. Harry instinctively reached over for the glass of water that Dobby sat by his bed every night, and brought the glass to his lips and reveled in the water despite it being room temperature. Water always had calmed his nerves and good thing too - the Dursleys had never let him have anything but water. 

Harry took another deep swallow of water, sat the glass quietly back on his nightstand and noted the time. It was slightly after 4am. Too early to get dressed and too late to attempt more sleep. Harry found himself giving a fairly audible sigh. Was it too much to ask for a decent night of sleep? Apparently…

He was startled from his thoughts as the large grandfather clock in the common room chimed the quarter hour. It was amazing how loud that clock could be. It was probably enchanted…much like everything in and around Hogwarts.  Harry chuckled to himself at this thought.  

That was when Harry heard it: a loud, bone-chilling scream. 

Harry hastily threw back the curtain of privacy surrounding his bed and looked to see if everyone was all right. To his surprise, everyone's curtains were drawn and random snores were heard throughout the room. 

Harry quickly grabbed his father's old cloak and headed for the door. He thought briefly of waking Ron, but thought better after hearing Ron murmur something that sounded suspiciously like, "Oh Hermione!" Guess he would be having a chat with Ron tomorrow during their study period! 

He quietly opened the door to the dormitory and slipped out. Harry continued down the creaking stairs and stopped short when he saw his red-haired girlfriend standing by the leather common room couch; one hand on her hip, one hand hidden behind her back and a smirk firmly in place. 

"Going somewhere, Potter?" Ginny Weasley said, as she moved closer to him. 

As he threw off the cloak, Harry said, "Wha- How did you-umm- how did you know, Ginny?"

"I make it my business to know everything about you, Harry Potter," she said with an even larger smirk. "Now where do you think you are going? And without the Map…tut tut, Potter, are you _trying_ to get caught? Like those detentions with Snape and Filch do we?" 

Harry grinned sheepishly at his girlfriend. In most cases, she was considered by most to be worse than her twin, older brothers…_and for good reason_. 

"Funny thing that, Miss Weasley. I haven't seen the Map in over a week. You wouldn't know anything about that, now would you?"

"Little ole' me? You must be joking," she said, as she revealed the Map that had been hidden behind her back. Harry gave a small laugh at her antics while Ginny was giggling. Harry loved to hear her laugh. 

"And why did we steal the Map, Miss Weasley?"

"First off, I did not steal the map. I borrowed it. Secondly, I needed to keep tabs on my troublesome boyfriend. He has this unusual knack for attracting trouble. I wanted to be prepared. I do, after all, know some wonderfully annoying hexes that could help his cause…such as my _amazing_ Bat Bogey Hex. And, last but not least, I wanted to see if, with the Map, I could –umm- sneak into the boys' dormitory." 

Harry did a fake surprised gasp, put his hand to his mouth in mock horror and said, "Tart! I'm dating a Tart!" 

Ginny, giggling all the while, walked over to him and swatted him on the chest. 

"Ouch!" Harry said, but with a smile on his face. "Come here…" he whispered, as he pulled her close and bestowed her with a chaste kiss on the nose. Ginny responded by gently rubbing her nose against his. Seconds later, she pulled back and asked, "So where are we going?" 

"Not sure. Did you hear a scream a few minutes ago?" 

"No…" she responded, a bit hesitantly. "Who do you think it was? I didn't see anyone awake in the girls' dormitory. What about the boys' side?" 

"Everyone was asleep in the Sixth Year room. Didn't hear anyone moving around elsewhere. So, I think it might be outside the Tower. Can I see the Map?"

"Of course…" 

Harry extracted the map from Ginny's hand, quickly opened it and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." There, on the map, was Professor Snape in the Ballroom. 

"Will you look at that?! Professor Snape is in the Ballroom. Wonder what delights he is concocting for us unsuspecting Gryffindors? A trap for detention perhaps?" Harry said with a fair bit of mirth in his voice. 

"Let's go see!" Ginny said, as she pulled him towards the main entrance to the common room. 

"Hang on, Ginny! Let's put the cloak on." 

"Oh right…" Ginny said, as Harry pulled her to back to his chest and threw the cloak over them. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Then, to keep her feet from showing, he slightly bent himself over her and verified that the cloak was touching the floor. Once he was sure no random legs or arms were visible, they began slowly making it to the door. Once there, he quietly rapped on the picture frame and woke the Fat Lady. 

"Unghghnghg…who's there?" the Fat Lady quietly inquired, once the doorway was open. Upon seeing no one, she tried again, "Potter, is that you?" 

Harry gave her a quiet chuckle in response. 

She smiled, gave them enough time to get through the threshold, closed the entry way and then fondly said, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Miss Weasley." 

Harry and Ginny were both still snickering when they arrived at the staircase to take them to the Ballroom. 

The trip down the staircase, with the cloak on, was painstakingly slow. More than once, while making the trek down the stairs, Harry and Ginny bit back expletives after stepping on one another's toe or bumping into something by softly saying such silly euphemisms as 'Golly Gee McGee, that hurt!' or 'Hell-o Miss Dolly.'  This, of course, sent them quietly into another round of snickering at the inanity of the whole escapade. 

Once on the appropriate floor, they quickly readjusted the cloak, and Harry, to be safe, placed a gentle hand over his girlfriend's mouth to stop any unexpected giggling from emerging. She was definitely a spontaneous giggler. 

They slowly made it down the hall. At some point, they began hearing snippets of the _Vienna__ Waltz_. The music became louder as they drew closer to the Ballroom. 

Once there, they were relieved to find that one of the massive doors had not been fully closed. Harry, with great restraint, slowly opened the door so that they could have a better view into the room. 

What they saw caused them to gasp in shock and delight all at once. There in the middle of the room was Professor Severus Snape, evil Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and all-around git…DANCING with Winky, the House Elf.  All while Dobby supervised. After about 12 counts of…one, two, three….one, two, three…one, two, three…Snape would fall out of step and give Winky's foot a nasty stepping on.  That, in turn, would immediately cause her to give a high-pitched scream. Dobby would run over and quickly show Professor Snape the correct stance, and offer condolences to Winky and her battered foot.  This spectacle seemed to repeat itself endlessly. 

Eventually Harry and Ginny got over their shock. And, as it was bound to happen, a giggle escaped. 

Snape's head shot up at the sound and he immediately began looking around for the source. Dobby, however, knew exactly whom it was and where they were. He walked directly to the invisible couple, and said excitedly, "Harry Potter, you came to Winky and Dobby, sir!"

Harry and Ginny knew the game was up and dropped the cloak. Professor Snape immediately came over and began his rant, "What do we have here? Students out of bed _after_ curfew?! I think this warrants several detentions…say, three. Mister Potter, you will serve yours with me. Miss Weasley, you will serve with Mr. Filch. I expect you both to arrive tonight directly after dinner. Is that clear?" 

"No, Professor Snape, you cannot punish Harry Potter! It is Dobby's fault Harry Potter and his Weasley are here. I called them, sir." 

'You called them? Whatever for?" 

"To have them help Dobby and Winky with your dances, of course, sir!"

"Why would you need them to help you with this?" Snape asked.

"Umm-wells-sir, that is hard to explain." 

'Do try, Dobby," Snape sneered. 

"Uh-sir-uh-Winky here was having nightmares about your lessons. So to relieve her of her nightmares, Dobby and Winky imparted some of them to Harry Potter, sir."

Winky was to the left of Dobby vigorously shaking her head in agreement. "Yes sir, those were the worst nightmares Winky has ever had, sir!" 

"And Mr. Potter was needed for…" Snape prodded the House Elves. 

Winky responded, "Relief, Professor Snape. Relief. Winky had been having horrible nightmares. Harry Potter absorbed some of the discomfort and allowed Winky to sleep a bit. Thank you, Harry Potter!  Thank you very much, sir. Dobby says that you would not mind Winky sharing her dreams with you. Dobby says you are a nice wizard…a good wizard, that you help Dobby and Winky. That is why Dobby and Winky did it, sir."

Harry nodded to Winky in understanding, laughter evident in his eyes. "Let me get this straight…teaching Snape to dance is your worst nightmare, Winky?"

"Oh yes, sir! It is awful. Professor Snape steps over and over on Winky's left foot. Winky has to do three healin' charms a day or Winky's foot turns blacks 'n swells bigger than Winky's head, it does!" 

By this point, Harry and Ginny doubled over in laughter. The only words escaping them were 'nightmare,' 'Snape' and 'dancing.' 

"I do hope you find this equally amusing, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, in detention tonight."

"I'm sure we will, sir. I am sure we will." Harry said, as he fell to the floor laughing.  


End file.
